The controversy over the statement attributed to Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Olufemi Oluyede, that many indigenes of communities under the siege of insecurity collude with terrorists and bandits, is unnecessary. It is not only a statement of fact, it is one of the reasons that terrorism and insurgency have remained intractable after 17 years and N33 trillion drain on our national resources.
Oluyede on Tuesday, last week, led a delegation of top military chiefs to Borno State in response to President Bola Tinubu’s order to relocate to Borno following the recent suicide bombings that claimed 23 lives and injured 108. In his address to the military personnel, he was quoted as saying:
“It is most unfortunate that most of the people perpetrating these heinous acts are from these (insecurity-threatened) states. They are our brothers, sisters and cousins. We know them. Let me give you an example. When Kukawa was attacked, while we were conducting cordon-and search” afterwards, we discovered that two of the wounded terrorists were inside that village. Therefore, the people in these two states, Borno and Yobe, must take ownership in this war”.
The CDS was attacked in some quarters for “over-generalising” and stigmatising Borno and Yobe indigenes for allegedly colluding with Boko Haram. Defence Headquarters spokesman, Major General Samaila Uba, had to issue a statement debunking the claim that the CDS accused the people of Borno and Yobe States of complicity in terrorism.
It is obvious that those picking nits with the CDS’ statement seek to create unnecessary distractions for reasons best known to them. The reported speech of the CDS cannot be faulted. There was no over-generalisation. The instance he gave about wounded terrorists being found in Kukawa, one of the most terrorised communities in Borno State, said it all.
Collusion with terrorists is a widespread criminality. In September last year, the Kogi State Chief Security Adviser, Jerry Omodara, accused some youth and women of supplying terrorists in the state with food, fuel and other necessities. According to him: “The bandits are operating with the indigenes of Okun land…”.
Collusion and sabotage come in various forms, such as funding, supplying information, fuel, foods, arms and ammunition, motorcycles and even women to the terrorists besieging their own communities. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has failed to take decisive steps against saboteurs. Some are “too big to touch”. That is why insecurity is widening, despite the great costs to the nation in lives and resources.
Rather than tackling the military authorities for speaking the facts, communities besieged by terrorists must join government in efforts to stamp out terrorism if they want their ordeal to end.
The Federal Government must also pick up resolve and deal ruthlessly with saboteurs to deter sabotage.
